How to Make the Case for Your Business Case

Case Builder, Practice What You Preach!

Those involved in doing the work and their managers naturally want to know if the project is worth the time and effort. They may ask: “Can the people who propose business case analysis practice what they preach and present the business case for building the business case?” In other words, they are askng: an you make the case for your business case?

The answer is “Yes, of course.” The case for the case should stand on compelling logic and concrete evidence. But do not expect a simple ROI figure or cash flow value for the business case itself. Instead, keep in mind the following points when thinking about the value of a business case project.

For many managers, the “Case for the Case” comes down to comparing (a) the cost of labor and other resources that go into case building with (b) the order of magnitude of funds that are either at risk or the size of the opportunity to be taken or missed when a decision to act or not act is made.

Reducing Risk Builds the Case for Your Business Case

Remember first the purpose of business case analysis: reducing risk for decision-makers and planners. The value of the case depends on the value at risk in the action under analysis. Here, you can begin by assessing the cost of previous bad decisions or missed
opportunities.

• Consider the cost of bad decisions that might have been avoided with good business case analysis: unexpected project costs, surprisingly large cost of ownership, lawsuits, bad loan decisions, product failures, missed time-to-market objectives, bad portfolio management decisions, and so on. In many settings, the cost of bad decisions is many dozens or hundreds of times the cost of the business case project.
• Consider also the value of opportunities that were missed because management did not have enough confidence to take action at the right time.

Good business case analysis will not lower the bad decision rate or missed opportunities rate to zero, but it should reduce them by a significant percentage. When the case includes a good risk and sensitivity analysis, the level of risk and uncertainty remaining is measured and known.

Reaching Objectives Builds the Case for Your Business Case

Try also to estimate the financial value of reaching business objectives addressed by the subject of the case. The business case deserves credit for some of that value if it contributes to reaching the objective. For example:

• If your company sells products in a highly competitive industry, where new product design is a constant need, the value of reaching time-to-market objectives or reaching production efficiency targets is huge.
• If you are in financial services or another transaction-intensive business (reservations, online sales, customer service), then the value of staying online and delivering better service than your competition, is very large (compared to the cost of being offline).
• If you belong to a government organization charged with delivering high-quality service to a large population, then the value of completing your mission (to the population served) can be very large.

Saving Time and Effort Builds the Case for Your Business Case

To fully understand the value of the case building project, be sure to consider also the time and effort already going into decision support, accountability reporting, budgeting, and planning. This may very well be many reduced, significantly, if you establish a business case discipline in the organization, with methods and support that are structured and well communicated.

But, what is the Value of the Case itself?

Further questions about the value of the business case project, or about the “ROI” for the case itself could be answered after the analysis is performed. That value could then be taken as a change in expected value for the results of the action under study (the subject of the case) from doing the analysis. (Expected value is a concept from applied statistics: the expected value of the action should improve because the probabilities of low-value outcomes decrease and the probabilities of high-value outcomes increase, thanks to the analysis).

I suspect, however, that most managers would not consider that kind of result as very practical guidance. You cannot take expected value to the bank. And, in any case, it comes too late to help decide whether or not to do the case.

Remember that the “Case for the Case” comes down to comparing (a) the cost of labor and other resources that go into case building with (b) the order of magnitude of funds that are either at risk or an opportunity to miss when a decision to act or not act is made. If the case building costs are no more than, say, 2-5% of the magnitude of funds involved, most agree that it’s “money well spent.”

The case for the case is more compelling and easier to understand when you show simply that the cost of the case is very small compared to:

• The value at risk with the proposed action
• The cost of bad decisions
• The value of opportunities that could be missed
• The value of reaching business objectives and the role of the business case in
  getting there.

Time and labor saved by building a good business case, compared to business as usual planning, information gathering, and accountability reporting.

Where to Go From Here: Take Action!

Learn how to develop and deliver a solid business case for your business case. For new and veteran case builders alike, see our article Business Case Analysis.  Learn case design from our ebooks, the Business Case Guide or the best-selling authority in print, Business Case Essentials. Download today the premier case building books and software from The Master Analyst Shop! Learn and practice the premier case building methods at a Business Case Master Class Seminar.

To learn more on the IIBA International Institute of Business Analysis click here. For info on the IBF Institute of Business Forecasting click here. See also the Forbes Guide to GAAP Generally Accepted Accounting Principles click here. For a brief summary of Six Key Principles of Decision making click here.

By Marty Schmidt. Copyright © 2023.
Solution Matrix Limited, Publisher.